Rush hour fire in underground wrecks havoc in central Moscow

June 05 2013

Alexander Korablinov

RIR

Arriving trains were unable to offload passengers due to the crowds trying to get in and out. Source: Gerda Antonova/RIA Novosti

The incident caused chaos on other metro lines in the city centre as crowds of people were forced to change trains. Taxi drivers took full advantage of the situation and charged exorbitant rates to commuters.

Downtown Moscow witnessed chaotic scenes as
thousands of passengers had to be evacuated and dozens needed medical help
after a fire broke out in metro during the morning rush-hour on Wednesday.

RIA Novosti cited the Moscow emergencies
service as saying that the fire broke out in a tunnel between Biblioteka Imeni
Lenina and Okhotny Ryad, two stations on the Moscow Metro’s oldest
Sokolnicheskaya line which runs through the city centre close to the Kremlin. Six
stations on the line have been closed, the news agency said.

The Russian Ministry of Emergency
Situations said that 7 people, including a 6-year old child were hospitalised
after inhaling dense smoke caused by the fire in the Moscow metro. Out of the
4,500 people evacuated from the underground, 45 needed medical treatment, the
ministry said.

“A power
cable caught fire, an evacuation is underway,” an emergency service source told
RIA Novosti.

The Okhotny Ryad station, located at the
depth of 15 meters (49 feet), was blanketed in smoke and the escalators were switched
off, a RIA Novosti correspondent at the scene said.

The incident caused chaos on other subway
lines in the city centre as crowds of people were forced to change trains. The
Park Kultury subway station was one of several which came to a standstill, with
trains arriving unable to offload passengers due to the crowds trying to get in
and out of the station. Thousands simply gave up, and started walking or taking
buses and cabs, including an RIR reporter.

A witness told RIR that taxi drivers in
central Moscow were asking passengers to pay well above the standard fares for
rides to short distances in the centre. Moscow has one of the largest and most efficient metro systems in the
world, but transport experts have often warned of a lack of contingency plans
to meet emergency situations.